Residents of Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska and Pottawattamie county in Iowa have until 4:00 p.m. Thursday to comment on MAPA’s Regional Bike-Pedestrian Master Plan.
Mike Helgerson, Transportation Planner, says the plan identifies a set of corridors that MAPA thinks represents the biggest North-South and East-West movements throughout the region.
He says when many people think of bikeways, they often think of the region’s busiest streets and trying to fit a bike lane on them but many of those roadways aren’t good for cycling today.
Helgerson says MAPA wants to make it easier for people to choose to bike.
"The majority of trips in metro areas like Omaha are less than three miles. And those are trips from work to school or for daily needs. And for most people, safety is one of the bigger factors that motivates or influences them as to whether or not they are willing to walk or bike to a particular place. So we think prioritizing and trying to identify the types of infrastructure that would help encourage people to make some of those short, daily trips by a bike would really help get people out of their cars.”
Helgerson says MAPA believes building out a network of designated bike routes in the region would reduce congestion on roadways in some places and allow people more transportation options.
The plan may be viewed online at heartland2050.org. Comments may be emailed to mapa@mapacog.org.